Are you an "inch deep and a mile wide" or a "mile deep and an inch wide" person?

If you have read even a couple of my blog posts, you know that I have a great love of learning and that I am all about figuring out something new. 

I have recently figured out that not everyone thinks like this.. :) And this got me thinking and wondering.. 

Are you an "inch deep and a mile wide" 

or a "mile deep and an inch wide" kind of person?

This "inch deep and a mile wide" philosophy guides my teaching style as well. I really want my students to experience all kinds of art so that they can move into the next phase of their lives saying that while they may not know much about something, they at least have had first hand experience with a technique or art medium.

To that end, I am having one of my art 1 classes learn how to make slip, pour molds and make ceramic pieces.

It is messy and fun and so cool to watch students who have been given the freedom to learn, create, FAIL and then finally succeed!

Maybe that is why I am such a proponent of the "inch deep and a mile wide" philosophy... When you are willing (or required) to learn new things, you have to understand that failure is part of the process. But if you only do what you already know how to do, you don't have to worry about the possibility of failure.

That's not to say that choosing to get really good at one thing is bad. We need both kinds of people to make the world work. But my question for those of you who are "mile deep and an inch wide" people is.. don't you get bored? It's a real question. I'd love to know your insights!

2016 Resolution: Follow Through

My resolution for 2016 is to overcome one of my greatest struggles.

And what is my greatest struggle? Well..

I would say my short attention span, but I can focus on hard things or interesting things forever. Give me a thousand piece puzzle and I'm good for the day. 

But if it doesn't force me to engage, I move on. Even when I am so close to being finished with something that it doesn't make sense.

So really, I'd have to say that my greatest struggle is my inability to just finish off things.

As I have blogged about previously, I am a fantastic starter! I can get whipped up into a frenzy and live in a state of euphoria about something for days or even weeks, but once the adrenaline wears off, or I have figured out the process or whatever, I am done. Even when I'm not really done.

This works fine in the art classroom. My student's count on my energy as they are getting started. They need my starter projects so that they can see the process. The problem is, I don't finish the projects. At school I don't have time. My student's don't need my finished pieces. By the time I can get back to my starter clay piece, it's bone dry and often broken.  By the  time I can get back to my drawing/paintings, I often can't remember what my motivation/inspiration was in the first place! 

As you can imagine, I have lots and lots of starter projects at school.

I have even more at home. With no excuse. 

So this year, I am going to finish things.

My word for the year was going to be FINISH, but I know that my healthy journey can't be finished.. but I sure can follow through. I need to get a mindset of just following through with projects, ideas, training and eating.

Therefore, that is my mantra for 2016: Follow Through.

Here is a glimpse of a few of my unfinished projects...I included my girls in the picture as they have as many unfinished projects as I do!! What an example. ugh.

And I have gotten right to it. The girls finished their lingering paintings for the county art show (finally.. they only started these in July!) And I finished my first loom knit scarf today!

I am also going to refocus of healthy eating. I had been doing great, then I got the stress fracture in my left foot in October and had to shut down the workouts. With life and stress and me not eating right, I have gained 10 pounds. Bummer. But if I will just FOLLOW THROUGH and eat real food. not processed drive-thru crap, I'll be fine. Just gotta follow through.

So this is my year of nothing new except for possibly a house if we can ever get something found/worked out. But other than that, it's a year of finishing..not starting!

How is that for a resolution!! I know that there are a lot of you that need a resolution like this!!

I gave it the 'old college TRI!

A couple of weeks a go, my friend Alisa (below in green) sent me a text at 5:30pm on Friday night.

She said, let's skip our Saturday long run and join Lesley (below in blue) in tomorrow's sprint TRI!

I said.. "Do you know how long it has been since I swam??"

She said, "As long as it has been since I have!"

So we went on down to packet pickup and signed up!!

CRAZY TIMES!!

I have to say, I LOVE the fact that I am fit enough to say... "Let's do it!"

So Saturday morning dawned and I gathered up my stuff trying to remember what all I should take for the race!

Here we are before the race.

The cool thing about this race is that while it is a sprint tri, it is a backwards tri.  Meaning that you run, then bike and finally swim. It works because the swim is in a 4 feet deep pool. 

So off we went on the run. I wasn't sure how fast to go out. I ran the first mile and 1/2 on my own and then Hans, a 69 year old ironman was running besides me and we talked the way in. It was a good moderate pace. I did the 5k in 30 minutes flat. One of the coolest parts of racing is making new friends and hearing amazing stories from veterans along the way.

Then on to the bike. This will be my LAST race without clipping in! UGH. I love riding, but man, this course was super hilly and tough! 14 miles later I was back and into transition.

Finally, the swim. It was nice hitting the water at this point. As I stated earlier, I hadn't swam laps in at least 9 months. Quite possibly since my last tri a year ago! oops.  Anyway, I muddled through the laps using ALL the strokes I could think of!

My time? 1:40:38.

And since I trained NOT ONE OUNCE.. how did this compare to my other times? Well... my personal best time is 1:40:35:1. 

Amazing.

If I had known I was THAT CLOSE, I could have shaved a few seconds off a transition, gotten in the pool faster, or did anything just a minute faster!

Oh well :) 

I had so much fun!!

And look what I brought home.

Second in my age group.

Not bad at all.  And yes, of course I'll be competing next year. I might even train! ;)

So since I didn't train for the tri? What am I training for? 

Well, I'm training for a full marathon!! 

Last week I ran 45 miles. My most ever.  

Thanks Kylie for putting lotion on my poor tired feet.

And I'm buying a few new clothes. I haven't lost any additional pounds (one CAN NOT LOSE while training for a marathon.. one can only HOPE to NOT GAIN!!!)

But my clothes from last fall are too big! So shopping it is.

Here is my latest Stitch Fix. 

And that is what we are up to. 

Maddie is busy with colorguard and trying to get well. She has been sick for the last month.

Lexi is reading. She might do other things but I'm not sure... :)

Kylie is mastering being in FIRST GRADE.

And Doug is working and preaching.

We are busy, busy people.

So thankful it is a good life!

Dwindling Summer

It's almost that time again.. another school year.

This year, Maddie is in 10th, Lexi is in 5th and Kylie is in 1st.

Oh my.

We went school supplies shopping last week. OUCH!

And even though it is summer, Lexi has to have her books. Thank goodness for the public library. I think she is closing in on 50 books read this summer!

I have very much enjoyed lazy mornings and fun running dates with Kylie.

She can run a mile and I figure for a 5 year old, that is pretty good!

I've been painting. I delivered these two paintings this week. They are hanging in my school's office next to the secretary. I love having "gallery" space!

And of course I've been working on my grad classes. I completed another 6 hours at the end of July and will start my final 12 of this degree in another week! I have learned so much and have so much yet to learn.

And I have painted some more. 

Have I said that I love summer? :) !! 

It's always sad for summer to fly by so quickly, but I've been back in my room working already and have a great year planned. I'm hoping to focus this year on doing fewer things. But doing the fewer things really well. 

And now..it's back to work full-time. 

A few more highlights from paradise

Taking time out for "just us" is so very important! With careers, school, kids and countless daily demands, taking a few days to rest and just be together helps Doug and me to connect and chill. I can't recommend taking a vacation alone enough. I know it's expensive and hard to get a way, but WORTH IT!! 

Yep, that's my soapbox. If your relationship is at the bottom of the priority list, and you can't remember the last time you and your significant other had a couple of days away for just the two of you to reconnect, then oh my. It's time!!

So, anyway.. Doug and I went back to the El Dorado Casitas Royale. This is by no means a paid endorsement for them. I WISH!!! But we have been three years in a row! :)

Here are a few of my hundred or so pictures of our time in Mexico.

I have to include food pictures as this is a "Gourmet Inclusive" resort...

 

Yes, we very much enjoy the food!!

And I couldn't not run or do handstands! The workers enjoyed my handstand antics. 

The "room" is pretty nice too. We stayed at one of the swim-up casitas. I am so spoiled! You get to pick your pillow style/firmness and even choose aromatherapy for the daytime and a different one for the evening.

You can even order room service 24 hours a day.

Every day the room butler would create a towel decoration for the bed! 

 

And then of course there is the beach. Oh how listening to the sound of the ocean calms my soul. 

  

After a few days here, I am ready to go home to my girls, but there is something magical about this place! 

See you next time!! 

And if Karisma would like to send me to check out their other resorts and review them... I am READY!! :)

Overcoming claustrophobia is easier on vacation

I have very few real fears in life. However, claustrophobia is one of them. 

I hate going to the dentist as I feel like I am going to drown and that I can't breathe with all of the tools in and around my mouth.

I hate totally enclosed spaces.  I need to be able to see a way out. always!

So when I booked our excursion for our Mexico trip, I specifically said.. I want to rappel. I want to zip line. I DO NOT WANT  to snorkel, go in a cave or anything remotely like that! Swimming in a cenote, yes. but NOT if it is underground.

Fast forward to our trip. We get picked up on time and head to the meeting point of the different groups. All was fine... until.

The tour guide (Ivan) said that we are going to zipline, rappel and then snorkel in a completely underground pool and then eat lunch... I was about ready to have a panic attack before we even arrived at the destination.

Anyway, we arrived at our destination after a long and a little scary drive into the jungle. It was so remote that Doug and I were laughing to ourselves that maybe the real adventure was that we were going to be dropped off in the middle of the jungle of Mexico and told to make it back to civilization! 

No that didn't happen. This was a first class operation. (Adventuras Mayas)

First up, we suited up for rappelling. 

I've never rappelled before. But I could see that the ropes were sturdy and that they weren't going to let me die. So I volunteered to go first when they said that ladies would be going before the men. Heck, I about jumped for the opportunity. This new thing was in my wheel house as my older sister Libby and I used to climb the rock walls of a humongous church that were at least two stories high when we were between 8 and 10 years old! We did that with no one belaying us, no safety harness and no one knowing what we were doing!  and we didn't die. So I figured here I was fine. Besides, if you were early in the group you would get extra turns!!

So off I went.

Here is the picture from their photographers.

I got to the bottom and immediately took off for the top. It was 70+ stairs STRAIGHT UP and these stairs were STEEP! I'm glad I did as I got to see Doug go down!

If you look to the middle of the picture, you can just barely see Doug lowering himself down. Yes, we were way up high!

I followed him down and then we both took off for the top again. Yes, another almost 100 stairs! I was feeling it this time around! 

I was the only female to go 3 times. Yep, I am that nuts. This picture is one of my favorites of Doug and me. I love that you can see how stinkin' high we are and we have already lowered ourselves down almost one story at this point!

After this we went to the zip lines. And more stairs! Oh my. This totally counts as a workout.

I loved zip-lining. It was so much fun. It was not however comfortable. Those harness straps hurt. But totally worth it! We did 3 lines, which meant a LOT of STAIRS!

Then we changed clothes for (.... cue dramatic music) the "swim."

It was with my heart in my throat and more than just a little fear that I walked down those stairs into the cave. OH MY GRAVY. BATS WERE FLYING AROUND!!!

Anyway. We were directed into the water that was freezing. I think the shock to my system allowed my mind to not dwell on the fact that we were underground in a cave!

After all the groups had their photo op, we set out. Which by the way meant putting the mask and snorkel on. The guide actually pushed the mouth piece into my mouth. Probably the best thing to do given that I don't know that I would have done it on my own.

It was HARD. I had to really focus on not panicking. cause I was. I focused on my feet and the water and did my best to just put my face in the water and enjoy the experience.

I can't say that I enjoyed snorkeling. I'm not planning on doing that ever again.

but I did it. I didn't let fear win.

And I can tell my children that I don't want to snorkel because I don't enjoy it. not because I'm too scared to try.

What I did enjoy? The incredible water. The gorgeous colors and trying something new. That I can totally get behind.

Maybe that is the way to overcome a fear. Find a way to embed the fear inducing event in the middle of a fantastically awesome experience. Because overall, the day was incredible. So next time, I am feeling overwhelmed and claustrophobic, I am going to channel that cenote and enjoy the cold water and beautiful colors and get through the snorkeling!

The battle of a creative mind

I haven't slept much this last week. Lots of things running through my brain. It's hard being a natural "fixer" and creative person. I am constantly evaluating and wondering and processing the world.

It's hard to sleep when your brain doesn't shut off.

Like this morning. It is currently 5:18am.

And I have already spent an hour working on my graduate classes. In fact, I just turned in my final exams for this semester! Woohoo!

That is a huge relief.

I'd like to go back to sleep. But I can't.

And I can't go run as I ran 8 miles on Monday and did a 6 mile track workout yesterday.

I guess I'll paint. Cause I sure can't clean house at 5am!

I take more "selfies" that my teenage daughter!

Yesterday at lunch, I took a selfie. I was wearing a new shirt.

Maddie rolled her eyes and said "Mom, you take more selfies that I do!" I laughed as Lexi said that I didn't. That Maddie just sent her pictures via snapchat. I told her my friends didn't have snapchat, so I had to take pictures to text them or instagram them or facebook them!

Anyway, that got me thinking about my picture taking.

And here is what I have to say.

YES!! I do take a lot of pictures of myself these days. And I am PROUD of it! For years I hated the way I looked and avoided pictures. I didn't want a record of what I looked like or proof of what I wasn't doing!

But now, I am proud of who I am and my journey.

So here is a week in my life.. through pictures.

Today (Wednesday): This was taken after I ran an 8:15 mile. Woohoo! I'm making progress.

Yesterday (Tuesday): My lunch selfie! I am wearing a size small shirt here! I haven't been this small since 10th grade.

okay, one more selfie for yesterday.. :) Cause playing at the park deserves a photo spread!

Monday: Post run. Feeling the burn after four days of scrapbooking and binge eating! (Don't you love Kylie's photobomb!)

Sunday: At the pool. In a swimsuit.

Saturday: My 41st birthday!

Friday: Not technically a selfie..

How about this one?

Thursday: At retreat!

(Taking the panoramic photo was fun! After a bunch of tries, we got it. I started the photo with Mindy on the left sitting and after I passed her and got around, she took the camera and got me in the photo!)

And back to Wednesday. At the Japanese Gardens.

So yeah. I take a lot of pictures. And I am proud of it! :)